Transcript Great Plague of London

ГБОУ СОШ №183
Prepared by:
Tim Slonevskiy,
Paul Zhukov
and
Igor Selyakov
SPB.2014
•
•
The Great Plague (1665–1666) was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to
occur in the Kingdom of England. It happened within the centuries-long time period
of the Second Pandemic, an extended period of intermittent bubonic
plague epidemics which began in Europe in 1347, the first year of the "Black
Death", an outbreak which included other forms such as pneumonic plague, and
lasted until 1750.
The 1664–1666 epidemic was on a far smaller scale than the earlier "Black
Death" pandemic; it was remembered afterwards as the "great" plague mainly
because it was the last widespread outbreak of bubonic plague in England during the
400-year time span of the Second Pandemic.
Background
• During the winter of 1664, a bright comet was to be seen in the sky and
the people of London were fearful, wondering what evil event it
portended.
• There was no sanitation, and open drains flowed along the centre of
winding streets.
• The cobbles were slippery with animal dung, rubbish and the slops
thrown out of the houses, muddy and buzzing with flies in summer and
awash with sewage in winter.
• The City Corporation employed "rakers" to remove the worst of the
filth and it was transported to mounds outside the walls where it
accumulated and continued to decompose.
• At that time, bubonic plague was a much feared disease but its cause was
not understood. The credulous blamed emanations from the earth,
"pestilential effluviums", unusual weather, sickness in livestock,
abnormal behaviour of animals or an increase in the numbers of moles,
frogs, mice or flies. It was not until 1894 that the identification
by Alexandre Yersin of its causal agent Yersinia Pestis was made and the
transmission of the bacterium by rat fleas became known.
Outbreak
•
•
•
Plague has been transported to London from Netherlands. It was spreading from
port to the center of the city.
In summer of 1665 people began to leave London.
The outbreak of plague happened in 1665-1666. People were dying and King tried
to fix that. For example, big bonfires were burning all the day and all the night.
When plague started the number of victims was 2020 people for a week, but when
outbreak was that number was 7000 people a week! In autumn the plague started
to finish. By the time people returned to London. As we know, the most disease
distributors were rats.
The recording of deaths
In order to judge how severe an epidemic is, we need to know how big was the
population in which it occurred. There was no official census of the population to
provide this figure, and the best contemporary count comes from the work of John
Graunt. In 1662 he estimated that 384,000 people lived in the City of London, the
Liberties, Westminster and the out-parishes, based on figures in the bills of
mortality published each week in the capital. In 1665 he revised his estimate to 'not
above 460,000'. The Great Plague killed an estimated 100,000 people, about 15% of
London's population.
Aftermath
Since end of the autumn black death's lethality was going down. And soon after it
people were coming back to their homes. But the city was full of vehicles with corpses.
London became a centre for lots of businessman and soon trade revived in London.
That was not the full end, but plague slowed down very much because of London's
Fire. It burned the most of disease distributors.
Impact
The plague in London largely affected poor people, while the rich could, and did, leave
the city and retire to their country estates or go to reside with kin in other parts of the
country. The Great Fire however ruined many city merchants and property owners. The
street plan of the capital was relatively unchanged but the streets were widened,
pavements were created, open sewers abolished, wooden buildings and overhanging
gables forbidden, and the design and construction of buildings controlled. The use of
brick or stone was mandatory and many gracious buildings were constructed. Not only
was the capital rejuvenated, but it became a much more healthy environment in which to
live. Londoners had a greater sense of community after they had overcome the great
adversities of 1665 and 1666.